Computer systems enable users to view information on display devices. The information that can be viewed may include pure text, pure images, or a combination of text and images. Occasionally, the user may need to view the information in a display area that is smaller than the display area for which the information was intended and designed. Such a situation may arise if the user desires to view more than one page in a display area that was designed to display only one page or if the user desires to view the page on a portable computer with a small display area. Therefore, a need exists to display information in a display area that is smaller than the display area for which the information was designed.
When the information consists solely of text, one solution is to display a summary of the text. For example, if the text includes headings, only the headings are displayed to the user. The headings convey the overall content of the text to the user. Alternatively, if the text includes an opening and/or closing paragraph, one or both of these paragraphs are displayed to the user. Again, the opening and/or closing paragraph conveys the overall content of the text to the user. While this solution is satisfactory when the information consists solely of text, it is not satisfactory when the information includes images. When the information includes images, it is not possible to accurately convey the overall content of the image to the user by displaying a summary of the image.
Traditionally, two methods have been used to display an image in a display area that is smaller than the display area for which the image was designed. The first method involves cropping the image. With cropping, the size of the image is maintained while outer portions of the image are cut off or trimmed until the remaining uncut or untrimmed portion can be displayed in the smaller display area. For example, FIG. 1 shows an image of a man holding a newspaper with a headline that reads "SPRING LAUNCH FALLS FLAT|||" FIGS. 2a, 2b, and 2c show the image after it has been cropped to fit in a display area that has been reduced to 50%, 25%, and 12.5%, respectively, of the size of the original display area in both the horizontal and vertical directions.
The second method that has been used to display an image in a display area that is smaller than the display area for which the image was designed involves scaling the image. With scaling, the image is proportionally reduced until the entire image can be displayed in the smaller display area. FIGS. 3a, 3b, and 3c show the image of FIG. 1 after it has been scaled to fit in a display area that has been reduced to 50%, 25%, and 12.5%, respectively, of the size of the original display area in both the horizontal and vertical directions.
The problems with these traditional methods are apparent from the previous examples. While cropping maintains the resolution of the original image, it sacrifices the context of the original image. With cropping, portions of the image become unviewable as the display area gets smaller until the remaining uncropped portion of the image does not include enough of the context of the original image to accurately convey the overall content of the original image. Referring to FIG. 2a, the remaining uncropped portion of the image includes sufficient context of the original image to convey the overall content of the original image. Referring to FIGS. 2b and 2c, however, the remaining uncropped portions of the image do not include sufficient context of the original image so that it becomes impossible to convey the overall content of the original image.
In contrast to cropping, while scaling maintains the entire context of the original image, it sacrifices the resolution of the original image. With scaling, the resolution of the image decreases as the display area gets smaller until the resolution of the scaled image is too low to accurately convey the overall content of the original image. Referring to FIG. 3a, the resolution of the scaled image is sufficient to convey the overall content of the original image. Referring to FIGS. 3b and 3c, however, the resolution of the scaled images is too low so that it becomes impossible to convey the overall content of the original image. Therefore, a need still exists to display information including images in a display area that is smaller than the display area for which the information was designed while accurately conveying the overall content of the information.